Game idea

To practice requesting information over the phone and when they don't have the information you need requesting that you be connected to someone who does or asking for the phone number of someone who does. There's also practice for the infamous 'they told me to call you and now you're telling me to call them?" sort of problem.

Playing the game

1. Have the students in the class get in pairs.

2. Photocopy one set of cards.

3. Assign an order to the pairs. It would be nice if the pairs were arranged in a circle.

4. Hand out one card to each pair.

5. Have one student of each pair pretend they are phoning up someplace and asking for the information on the card.

6. The other student can either pretend to have the answer to the question or not. If they don't have the answer the second student should ask if they can be connected to someone who knows the answer or given the number of someone who does.

7. When the pair is done with the card they pass it to the next pair clockwise to the left, and receive another card from their right. Note that if some pairs are slow they can create a traffic jam with the cards. You might want to have a couple of spare cards to throw in just in case.

8. Repeat the question asking and answering process switching roles, i.e. questioner becomes answerer, answerer becomes questioner.

9. The cards can go around the circle two times since each card can be used twice by a pair with each partner taking on each of the two roles.

10. Sometime during the activity you should get all the students to stop so you can practice what they should do if they get the ‘they told me to call you and now you're telling me to call them?’ sort of problem. Explain the problem to the class and ask for suggestions about what to do, write them up on the board and then have them roleplay their own solution to the problem in pairs.

Talking over the phone is more difficult than talking face to face to someone, so it's a good idea to write down exactly what you're going to ask before you dial (or in this case pretend to dial).

The inquiries or questions on the cards are not in grammatical sentences. The student should make requests in grammatical sentences, not just read what's on the card. A little improvisation wouldn't hurt either. Have the students elaborate on their question or add new questions.

Source This game is based on "To Ask Someone (by Phone)" in Eric Keller and Sylvia Taba Warner (1976) Gambits 1 p. 7.

Cards

When the overnight bus to Portland leaves San Francisco.	Where I have to pay the amount on my parking ticket.
What I have to do if I'm going to be one week late registering for classes at my university this semester. (I'm taking a long vacation)	What times the new James Bond film will be playing this evening.
When Professor Doright will be in his office.	Does K-Mart have that new pair of rubber rain-boots that I wanted to buy in stock?
What time does McDonalds close?	Why I just received a bill for $10,000 from the IRS when I haven't worked in the United States for two years?
How do I apply for a business visa to the United States?	When will the new edition of Hillary Clinton's cookbook be coming out?
My poodle's throwing up all over the rug. I need to make an appointment to see the vet quick.	I think it's time for my annual teeth cleaning, but I'm not sure. Could you check your records.